DRUG, ALCOHOL DEATHS AVOIDABLE, SAYS RESEARCH

The tragic overdose death of a University of Victoria student
underscores the importance of a recent study that attempts to answer:
how can we stop drugs from killing kids?

Dr. Tim Stockwell's report, "Interventions to Reduce Harm Associated
with Adolescent Substance Use," coincides with the news of 22-year-old
UVic student Zoe Read's mistaken overdose on GHB.

As the UVic community grieves her passing, many want to know how
substance abuse deaths can be prevented in the future.

Stockwell, a UVic psychologist and the director of university's Centre
for Addictions Research of B.C., outlines several strategies he
believes would effectively reduce the harm associated with substance
abuse.

His five-year study, published in the medical journal The Lancet,
distilled information from thousands of sources and previously
published research. He determined that combining regulatory,
early-intervention and harm-reduction approaches would be the most
effective strategy for reducing the risks associated with substance
abuse.

Regulating the price and availability of alcohol and tobacco has been
very effective, he says, adding that it would also work for other
drugs like cannabis.

"It's certainly easier to get cannabis than it is to get tobacco for
the average 15 or 16 year old," he said. "B.C. has got the lowest
rates of smoking anywhere in the world. But we've got one of the
highest rates of cannabis use. These two may not be unrelated to each
other."

Stockwell argues that regulating cannabis would undercut the black
market and give health authorities the opportunity to educate the
public about the risks of use.

"It's not a harmless herb, and nor is it the devil's drug," he said.
"Most of the risks ... are associated with regular use of quite high
doses."

Stockwell's study ranked drugs in terms of their relative harmfulness.
Heroin and cocaine topped the list, while other widely available drugs
like ecstasy were near the bottom.

He maintains we need a rational system that allows us to regulate
different substances in different ways.

"A lot of the things out there could potentially be relatively low
risk, if you didn't have all the contaminants and people knew what the
dose was."

In the case of GHB, which stands for gamma hydroxy butyrate, the
difference between the amount needed to get you high and a lethal dose
is extremely narrow. GHB is commonly smuggled into clubs and parties
in water bottles. Users have no way of judging its strength, which can
lead to serious harm.

Read took a large swig of the drug, mistaking the clear, odourless
liquid for water. GHB is synthesized from paint stripper and drain
cleaner. The lethal dose caused her respiratory system to fail. She
died three days later.

But the reality is alcohol still remains the top killer -- causing
almost 90 per cent of substance-related deaths in Canada.

"There's much more attention drawn to deaths from more exotic or
illegal drugs, even though they're a drop in the ocean compared with
what's going on day by day in road crashes, violence, suicide and
various illnesses caused by alcohol," Stockwell said.

He argues that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of
treatment.

By supporting young people and families at critical stages of their
development, we could reduce the demand for drugs.

Other harm-reduction measures such as graduated driver licensing and
road checks have also proven effective.

Stockwell is hoping the information obtained in his study can be used
as a guide for government investment in strategies to deal with the
harm associated with substance abuse.